Bump Watch - Week 33

Me with birthday girl Gen at Wala Wala

Week 33 is upon us, as is the shocking realisation that there are only 7 weeks to go - and possibly less if you consider the family history of early arrivals. Fortunately project baby is well under control by now and we could pretty much get by if Pob made an early appearance. We have the cot, a swinging crib and a growing collection of baby clothes thanks to new friend, Jess, who has a little boy and lives a couple of floors down.

We are also in the process of hiring a live-in maid (more on that soon!), which means I have a small project on the go to clear out the bomb room (AKA the maid's bedroom). Also this week, we had our second pre-natal meeting with our doula, Jennie, to finalise plans for the birth.

The main concern at my last hospital appointment was the breech position of the baby. I spent the last week trying out the tips for turning a breech baby, including lying head down on an ironing board propped against the sofa (a horrible vomit-inducing position) and kneeling on the floor with my bum in the air.

This morning we went for my regular check-up at the hospital and I was hoping and praying that the baby had turned. It seemed I wasn't the only one. "So, has the baby turned?" my obstetrician asked. "You tell me!" I said, but I wasn't hopeful. I explained that I was feeling the same sort of movements in the same sort of places, with one new and strange pointy lump on my left side.

So the Prof felt my belly and I was quite shocked that for the first time, he could not figure out which way round the baby was. "Where's the baby's head?" he puzzled. Meanwhile I'm lying there thinking oh my god, I'm sure the baby had a head before - and what on earth is that strange pointy thing on the left?! Has Pob somehow morphed into an alien life-form?

An ultrasound revealed the answers. "Ah, excellent!" the Prof broke into a smile as he waved the ultrasound gun over my belly. In fact the baby had turned and the reason Prof couldn't feel the head is that it was buried very deep inside. And as for the odd pointy thing on my side? A foot? A hand? Or maybe a stray elbow? No. It was a bloody fibroid all along!